The Most Famous

ATHLETES from Croatia

This page contains a list of the greatest Croatian Athletes. The pantheon dataset contains 6,025 Athletes, 37 of which were born in Croatia. This makes Croatia the birth place of the 31st most number of Athletes behind Belgium, and Switzerland.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Croatian Athletes of all time. This list of famous Croatian Athletes is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Croatian Athletes.

1. Milan Nenadić (1943 - 2024)

With an HPI of 52.80, Milan Nenadić is the most famous Croatian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages on wikipedia.

Milan Nenadić (12 August 1943 – 16 January 2024) was a Serbian middleweight Greco-Roman wrestler. Representing Yugoslavia, Nenadić competed in the 1968 and 1972 Summer Olympics and won a bronze medal in 1972. He was a European champion in 1969 and 1970 and won three medals at the world championships in 1969–1973. Being of Croatian Serb descent, he was a recipient of the silver plaque of the Serbian Wrestling Association. Milan Nenadić died on 16 January 2024, at the age of 80.

2. Dragutin Šurbek (1946 - 2018)

With an HPI of 51.65, Dragutin Šurbek is the 2nd most famous Croatian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Dragutin Šurbek (8 August 1946 – 15 July 2018) was a Croatian and Yugoslav table tennis player and coach.

3. Blanka Vlašić (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 51.05, Blanka Vlašić is the 3rd most famous Croatian Athlete. Her biography has been translated into 43 different languages.

Blanka Vlašić (Croatian pronunciation: [ˈblaːŋka ˈʋlaʃitɕ]; born 8 November 1983) is a Croatian former track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump. She is a two-time world champion and double Olympic medallist who ranks as the joint third- highest female jumper of all time with her personal best of 2.08 m (6 ft 9+3⁄4 in). She is the Croatian record holder in the event, and a former indoor world champion. The daughter of Croatian decathlon record holder Joško Vlašić, she was a talented junior athlete and attended her first Olympic Games in 2000 Sydney at the age of sixteen. She won the World Junior Championships in Athletics in both 2000 and 2002. Vlašić broke the Croatia national record in 2004 and also won her first world senior medal at the World Indoor Championships that year. A hyperthyroid condition hindered her second Olympic appearance in Athens and she spent the 2005 season recuperating from surgery. She returned in 2006, taking the silver at the World Indoor Championships. The 2007 season signalled a strong run of form: she won at the 2007 World Championships, became the indoor world champion in 2008 and her winning streak came to an end with a narrow loss at the Beijing Olympics that year, where she took silver. She became World Champion for the second time in 2009. Her awards also including the IAAF World Athlete of the Year 2010 and the European Athlete of the Year trophy (2007, 2010).

4. Duje Bonačić (1929 - 2020)

With an HPI of 50.82, Duje Bonačić is the 4th most famous Croatian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Duje Bonačić (10 April 1929 – 24 January 2020) was a Croatian rower who won a gold medal representing Yugoslavia in the coxless four event at the 1952 Summer Olympics. Bonačić was born in Split to a Croatian father and Slovenian mother. He had an elder brother Vojko and a sister Nevenka. He graduated in natural sciences in Zagreb, and took up rowing to build muscles, as he weighed only 56 kg with a height of 183 cm at the time. After retiring from competitions he worked as a professor of geography, meteorology and oceanography at maritime schools and also served as a coach and referee in rowing and sailing. After the death of Željko Čajkovski on 11 November 2016, he became the oldest Croatian Olympic medal winner. Bonačić died on January 24, 2020, at the age of 90 following a short illness.

5. Franjo Mihalić (1920 - 2015)

With an HPI of 50.18, Franjo Mihalić is the 5th most famous Croatian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Franjo Mihalić (Serbo-Croatian pronunciation: [frǎːɲo mǐxalitɕ]; 9 March 1920 – 14 February 2015) was a Yugoslav and Croatian long-distance runner best known for his 1958 win at the Boston Marathon and his marathon silver medal in the 1956 Summer Olympics. Mihalić competed mostly in marathons, road races and cross country races, distinguishing himself by winning many top-level international competitions in the 1950s and setting a combined 25 Croatian and later Yugoslavian national records in long-distance track events between 5000 m and 25 km. In 1957, he became the inaugural winner of the Golden Badge, the award for the best sportsperson of Yugoslavia awarded by the daily Sport. He is regarded as the most accomplished male athlete in the history of Croatian, Serbian and Yugoslav track and field.

6. Ivan Gubijan (1923 - 2009)

With an HPI of 48.46, Ivan Gubijan is the 6th most famous Croatian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Ivan Gubijan (14 June 1923 – 4 January 2009) was a Yugoslav hammer thrower. He competed in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics and placed second and ninth, respectively. He is credited with introducing the four-turn throwing technique, which is widely used today.

7. Ottavio Missoni (1921 - 2013)

With an HPI of 47.80, Ottavio Missoni is the 7th most famous Croatian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Ottavio "Tai" Missoni (11 February 1921 – 9 May 2013) was a Dalmatian Italian businessman, founder of the Italian fashion label Missoni and an Olympic hurdler who competed in the 1948 Summer Olympics. Along with his wife Rosita, he was part of the group of designers who launched Italian ready-to-wear in the 1950s, thereby ensuring the global success of Italian fashion.

8. Ivo Trumbić (1935 - 2021)

With an HPI of 47.54, Ivo Trumbić is the 8th most famous Croatian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Ivo Trumbić (2 April 1935 – 12 March 2021) was a Croatian water polo player and Olympic medallist. He later went on to manage. Ivo Trumbić coached the Netherlands to a bronze medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics, becoming one of the few sportspeople who won Olympic medals in water polo as players and head coaches.

9. Mate Trojanović (1930 - 2015)

With an HPI of 47.11, Mate Trojanović is the 9th most famous Croatian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Mate Trojanović (20 May 1930 – 27 March 2015) was a Yugoslavian rower of Croat ethnicity, who won a gold medal in the coxless four event at the 1952 Summer Olympics. After completing his studies in veterinary medicine in Split he moved to Maribor, where he worked as a veterinary inspector with the Yugoslav federal customs.

10. Abdon Pamich (b. 1933)

With an HPI of 46.37, Abdon Pamich is the 10th most famous Croatian Athlete. His biography has been translated into 22 different languages.

Abdon Pamich (born 3 October 1933) is a former Italian race walker. He competed in the race walking event at the 1956, 1960, 1964, 1968, and 1972 Olympics and won a bronze medal in 1960 and a gold in 1964. Pamich was the Olympics flag bearer for Italy in 1972.

People

Pantheon has 76 people classified as Croatian athletes born between 1920 and 2001. Of these 76, 62 (81.58%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Croatian athletes include Blanka Vlašić, Abdon Pamich, and Sandra Perković. The most famous deceased Croatian athletes include Milan Nenadić, Dragutin Šurbek, and Duje Bonačić. As of April 2024, 39 new Croatian athletes have been added to Pantheon including Milan Nenadić, Ronald Lopatni, and Karlo Stipanić.